Orange schools’ 4-day week cuts off summer day care on Fridays

Working parents scramble to find alternatives to programs that serve about 4,000 students

April 19, 2010|By Linda Shrieves, Orlando Sentinel

Orange County school leaders' decision to save money with a four-day workweek this summer will cut off day care on Fridays for hundreds of studentswho attend summer programs run by schools.

In addition, the new schedule is jeopardizing Friday care for several thousand students who attend summer programs operated by other organizations on school campuses.

The Friday closing has left parents scrambling for alternatives. Lesley Eickhoff, for example, is trying to figure out Friday care for her first-grader, who spent most of last summer in a program at Lakemont Elementary School.

"Isn't this the point of having the summer program — for working parents?" asked Eickhoff, a single mom in Winter Park. "It's already hard enough because they close for a week in July and the week before school starts. But to close every Friday? I don't know what I'm going to do."

Summer day-care programs serve almost 4,000 children at 25 elementary and 26 middle schools in Orange. Most also offer after-school care during the academic year.

Programs operated by the schools served more than 500 kids last summer. In addition, day care run by the Central Florida YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs and a company called After School Programs cared for 3,300 kids.

Superintendent Ron Blocker, with the consent of the School Board, ordered a four-day workweek to save about $1 million on electricity costs this summer. District headquarters and all schools will be closed every Friday from June 14 through July 30. Schools also will be closed throughout the week of July 4.

District officials said they considered the effect on parents but decided the inconvenience was outweighed by the possible cost savings.

"This is one of the tough decisions that we have to make because we only have one pot of money to fund our operations for 365 days," said School Board Chairwoman Joie Cadle. "This budget crisis is not easy, and I need to protect the classroom first."

Some counties that have adopted a four-day summer workweek, including Seminole, have decided to continue operating day care on Friday, but Orange officials ruled that out.

"I asked about opening one room up at each school," Cadle said, "and the problem with that is, before you know it you have people in the gymnasium or people working in the computer lab. The whole idea is to turn the A/C up and save money in the summer when the schools are not being used."

The school-operated programs in Orange provide a relatively inexpensive alternative to summer camps. A five-day week cost $80 last year. This summer, the programs are charging $64 for Monday through Thursday. By contrast, a week at the Orlando Science Center summer camp, for example, costs $195 for members and $225 for non-members.

Although the school-run programs will shut down on Fridays, some organizations that operate summer day care on school property are trying to cobble together alternatives, while others will close their Friday operations, too:

•YMCA officials are planning to offer day care for elementary students Mondays through Thursdaysat six Orange County schools. On Fridays, those children can attend a day camp at the closest YMCA Family Center.

"We're trying to find an option for the parents," said Maryalicia Johnson of the Central Florida YMCA. "We're all parents, and we know how hard it is to find summer care."

• Officials of After School Programs, which operates at five elementary schools, may rent pavilions at nearby public parks on Fridays so that parents can pick up and drop off their kids there. The company's Orlando coordinator said he will try to arrange field trips each Friday, though renting buses may be a problem. In the past, the company rented school buses, but this summer the buses will be idle on Fridays too, district officials said.

•Summer programs operated by the Boys & Girls Clubs and the YMCA at 26 middle schools will have to close Fridays because there's no money to bus the kids elsewhere, said coordinator Tyra Witsell.

Although school district officials floated the four-day workweek idea in March, many parents say they didn't realize it would affect summer day care until early this month.

Maryann Poulakos, a single mom from Winter Park, is trying to juggle her work schedule so that she can work on Saturdays, take Fridays off and send her second-grader, Shana, to Lakemont's summer program. On Saturdays, family members can take care of her daughter. If that doesn't pan out, she'll try to find an inexpensive camp nearby – but time is running out.

"I think I'm going to have to look at something else," Poulakos said. "But it won't be easy. I can't afford the expensive camps, and the ones that I can afford are a 20- or 30-minute drive from my house."